William Sofield,Interior Designer “Imagine all the surfaces of a room simply as reflectors of light and then choose paint values, tones, and colors that will accentuate or minimize differences. I often paint each surface a different color in order to achieve the right balance.”

Robert Couturier,Architect/Designer “To soundproof a room, upholster the walls and use thick carpets. I also put Green Glue behind the drywall—it’s a very effective noiseproofing compound.”

Lee Ledbetter,Architect/Designer “Paonazzetto is my current favorite marble for baths because it has graining reminiscent of a Franz Kline painting. It’s difficult to find the really beautiful slabs with a lot of contrast, but the hunt is worth the trouble.”

Sandra Nunnerley,Interior Designer “Rooms with high ceilings need generous baseboards. I have them made ten inches tall when necessary.”

Baccarat’s shower fitting for THG. Photo courtesy of THG Paris

Tony Ingrao,Interior Designer “My new favorite bath fixtures are Baccarat’s Pétale de Cristal collection for THG—they have crystal handles in a variety of colors and chrome or gold components.” Steven Gambrel, Interior Designer “Hardware is something you touch every day, so purchase the best. My splurge for the bath is the Henry line of faucets and hooks by Waterworks.”

Penny Drue Baird, Interior Designer “Polished nickel marries well with Carrara marble and other white stones, but brass and bronze can be a better fit with warm stones such as Botticino or limestone.”

Alexander Gorlin, Architect “When you’re trying to make a small space seem larger, clever use of mirrors helps do the job. Sir John Soane, the most fascinating architect of the late-Georgian era, used them to great effect in the breakfast room of his London house, now a museum."

Richard Mishaan,Interior Designer “Ebonizing kitchen cabinets is very chic, particularly when combined with chrome-plated or stainless-steel hardware. Then I like painting the rest of the room pure white to create great contrast and a sense of modernity."

Amelia T. Handegan,Interior Designer “To enliven a quiet room, use fabrics with varied textures and tones. Combine patterns of different scales to create a more layered look.”

Scott Sanders,Interior Designer “Indirect lighting can make a small space seem larger. For example, cove lighting recessed in soffits seems to dissolve the ceiling, creating the illusion that the walls extend much higher.”

Robin Standefer of Roman and Williams,Interior Designer “S9000-N, a high-gloss black from Fine Paints of Europe, makes kitchen cabinets look like they’ve been dipped in liquid licorice. We’re crazy about colors that remind us of food: butter, cream, oyster.”

Barry Dixon,Interior Designer “Invisible speaker systems have just the opposite virtues ascribed to Victorian children— they’re heard and not seen!”

Suzanne Tucker “A brilliant color painted on the inside of glass-front cabinets will give some va-va-voom to a tired-looking kitchen.”

Jeffrey Bilhuber, Interior Designer “Shine, shine, and more shine! I mean, who doesn’t respond to the optimism of highly lacquered walls and matching trim? It’s uplifting and invigorating.”

Jesse Carrier, Interior Designer “Dimmers lower electrical usage.”

Tony Ingrao “I like making dark spaces appear even darker, often by sheathing the walls in brown straw, Phillip Jeffries’s chocolate-color hemp, or Maya Romanoff’s wood-veneer wall covering. And paneling in black glass really amps up the drama.”

Lee Ledbetter “Whites and warm neutrals by Benjamin Moore are perfect for rooms that open onto one another. They enhance the sweep of space, they don’t compete with art, and they help draw the landscape into the home. Reserve colors that pop, like Chinese red or Billy Baldwin– brown, for more intimate rooms.”

Frank Roop,Interior Designer “In baths, I like to use tiles to form colorful racing stripes in the shower or behind the vanity. They add a sense of vibrancy.”

Architect Dirk Denison centered a beach house around an energy-efficient glass-roofed interior courtyard.
Photo: David Matheson

Dirk Denison “It’s important to tighten your envelope: Thoroughly insulating your walls, windows, and roof is the biggest step you can take toward energy efficiency.”

Thomas O’Brien,Interior Designer “Marbles in rich blacks, browns, and reds appeal to me lately—especially as kitchens continue to be the centers of homes and, very often, rather elegant rooms.”

Amy Lau,Interior Designer “When dealing with a dark room, whatever color is used on the walls, I paint the ceiling, trim, and doors the same color but 50 percent lighter. Too much of one shade can overpower a space.”

Analisse Taft, Interior Designer “K 15 by Ardex is a cement-based self-leveling floor treatment that I often use when I don’t want to install a new subfloor on a project. And adding a colored pigment to the mix gives you a more modern look.”

Crestron’s iPhone app for the home. Photo courtesy of Crestron

Roman Alonso of Commune, Interior Designer “Crestron’s iPhone app is pretty amazing. It can be programmed to control everything in the house, from security to HVAC to lighting to music.”

Jeffrey Bilhuber “I’m besotted with quartersawn-oak counters. It’s a late-19th-century look that adds old-world charm to a kitchen—even if the appliances are the most modern on the market.”

William T. Georgis, Architect/Designer “One of my favorite kitchen-counter materials of the moment is copper, sourced from good metalworkers such as Wainlands in Astoria, New York.”

James Gillam, Architect “My top splurge is a great shower-head, but a separate W.C. is a close second. It frees up and redefines other areas of the bathroom.”

Architect and decorator David Mann equipped a kitchen with custom-made stainless-steel cabinetry and counters that he offset with walnut shelves. Photo: Nikolas Koenig

Richard Mishaan “I love kitchens that are made entirely out of stainless steel—counters, backsplashes, cabinet doors, everything. As a material, it’s clean and crisp, and it’s offered as a finish on most appliances.”

Marc Appleton, Architect "When you’re remodeling a house, installing larger windows can work wonders. It seems counterintuitive, but half the experience of living indoors is seeing the outdoors.”

Stephen Alesch of Roman and Williams, Interior Designer “We love counters made of two-inch-thick honed white Carrara marble. Don’t be scared of potential stains—they just add to the patina.”

Tony Ingrao “A heated towel bar is one luxury that people often forget—it’s a subtle but memorable upgrade.”